Monday, 26 November 2012

More details here
'William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Britain’s war leader, stated that
‘America was won in Germany.’ How could Prussian successes on the
continent of Europe have sounded the death knell for New France and
Spanish ambitions in North America? Armies of the Seven Years War explains the connection and the outcomes of all the complex alliances that led to the ‘first world war’.'

Friday, 23 November 2012

Webpage for the event in May 2013 here. Facebook page here.There seems to be interest in attending this from the UK - there was quite a contingent at Grolle earlier this year. Be good to see some ECW people doing continental events - maybe get them using musket rests? Rocroi wiki

Or - A Military Journal of the Wars in Germany,
and the Wars in England. From the Years 1632 to 1648. Written threescore
years ago, by an English gentleman, who served first in the army of
Gustavus Adolphus, the Glorious King of Sweden, till his death, and
after that in the Royal Army of King Charles the First, from the
beginning of the Rebellion to the end of the War.

This is Defoe's fictionalized history of the war taken from accounts from a number of sources. Read it here

Monday, 19 November 2012

A fine song to sing beside the campfire at your local ECW or TYW event.

WEe be Souldiers three' was published by - and probably written by - collector and composer Thomas Ravenscroft, in his 'Deuteromelia' (1609). The French line, "pardona moy je vous an pree" (original spelling) means "pardon me, I pray you" or "pardon me, I beg you". The images in the video are from Ravenscroft's book.

Sunday, 18 November 2012

Some examples of these which were the ideal for pikemen in the early Civil War. The Royalists were less well accoutered. Top two images from the Tower Armouries and the bottom one from the NAM, Apparently Holland was the hub for the arms trade at the time and thousands of sets of arms came in compared to the mere hundreds made by British armourers.

One of the great early ECW regiments is Haslerigg's Lobsters who anachronistically attired in full cuirrasier armour made quite an impression on the lighter armed Royalist Horse. They were credited with being "the first that made any impression upon
the King's horse [the Royalist cavalry], who being unarmed [unarmoured],
were not able to bear the shock with them; besides they were secure
from hurts of the sword..."[Clarendon, "History of the Rebellion," 1647,
VII p. 105][3]London Lobsters wiki
Sir Arthur Haselrigg (pictured) survived three point-blank pistol shots and several
sword thrusts at the battle of Roundway Down , causing Charles I to
joke in a rare moment of humour::

"[had he] been victualled as well as fortified he might have endured a siege."

This book looks good. Its bumph readsOn the 13th November 1642 up to thirty-six
thousand Englishmen stood in battle formation on Turnham Green. The
Royalists, from winning the day at Brentford on the 12th, now faced the
London Trained Bands and regiments of the Parliamentarian Army in
perhaps, numerically, the `largest ever military confrontation' to take
place on British soil.
The story of the battle of Turnham Green and
how 'the sack of London' was prevented by Londoners. As Charles I's army
marched on the capital in the autumn of 1642, Nehemiah Wallington, a
wood-turner living near London Bridge, wrote in his journal, 'those
cruel cavilers doe so plonder & pillage & commit Rapin & use
such cruelty that the poore people are caused to fly from house and
home to save their children'. Most Londoners shared his fears that city
would be pillaged and burnt by the king's supporters, who had been
vilified in the London press and from the pulpits. Londoners had
willingly joined the Earl of Essex's army that summer but had failed to
stop the advance of the king's army. The capture and sack of Brentford,
so close to their city, confirmed their worst fears, for their own
safety and that of their families. London would be next. At Turnham
Green the Civil War that had pitched Englishman against Englishman came
to London. On 13 November thousands of volunteers streamed out of the
city to join the army and the most ferocious battle in London's long
history began. The outcome would mark a turning point in the conflict
that had split the nation.

This pivotal engagement of the ECW took place today. Read about it here.

The London trained bands can be read about here where this illustration comes from. An Ensign from an
engraving on one ofthe brass clasps of The Great Vellum Book
of The Honourable Artillery Company, c.1635